House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Thursday faulted Republicans for a delay in installing a plaque commemorating the officers who protected the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot.
“It simply awaits a decision by the Republican majority to have an appropriate ceremony of recognition and have it placed in a location of honor here,” Jeffries said at a press conference, adding the plaque is on Capitol grounds already and just waiting to be installed.
The office of Speaker Mike Johnson responded: “The Speaker’s office is working with [the Architect of the Capitol] to get the plaque mounted.”
The recognition was approved as part of a spending bill in 2022 and is expected to list the names of all law enforcement officers who responded to the violent attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The deadline set for its installation on the western side of the building was March 2023.
The plaque for officers responding on Jan. 6 would join an existing plaque that honors Detective John Gibson and Officer Jacob Chestnut, who were fatally shot in 1998 by a gunman attempting to reach the majority whip’s office.
Nicholas Wu contributed.
